Deputy Cheif Mininister Stuck in Statue of Unity elevator

Elevators taking visitors to the Statue of Unity’s (SoU) viewing gallery seem to be causing frequent embarrassment to the state government.

On Tuesday, Bihar’s deputy chief minister

Sushil Kumar Modi got stuck in the elevator, not once but twice, when he going to the the viewing gallery constructed at 152 metres. Gujarat

cabinet minister Saurabh Patel, government officials, security personnel and a media entourage were also present with Modi in the elevator.

First, the elevator did not move from the ground floor when the VIPs got in. Sources said that the elevator doors remained closed for a while because of overloading. Security personnel had to force open the doors. Before the elevator could start again, the media persons were asked to leave the lift to avoid overloading

It finally started ascending but halted again for about a minute before reaching the viewing gallery.

“There was overloading in the elevator and some malfunction, but the snag was resolved

After visiting the viewing gallery, Modi told mediapersons that it was a technical snag which can happen wherever there is such an elaborate arrangement.

Two elevators have been installed in SoU of which one is currently under service.

This is the second time that the elevators have malfunctioned. On the day of inauguration, nearly 200 visitors were stuck at the viewing gallery because the elevators had stopped working. All of them had to take the staircase to come down.